Amazon Tribe: "Video Is Our Bow. It's Our Weapon."

December 7, 2015 - To outsiders, the Kayapo might appear unsophisticated, but their use of video is far from it. The Amazon tribe in Brazil has been actively fighting against policies that threaten their environment and traditional ways of life. A few have become Kayapo "video warriors." They arm themselves with cameras to document activities such as protests, confrontations with officials, and illegal logging and to promote government accountability. Kiabiete Metuktire is one of those video warriors who uses technology to protect his community.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: I always say video is our bow. It is our weapon. With a film, it shows everything that has happened.

ONSCREEN TEXT: Filmmaker Kiabieti Metuktire is a member of the Kayapo community.

The Kayapo are an indigenous group who live in the Xingu National Park in Brazil’s central Amazon region.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: My way of thinking is I want to make videos in our villages, for us to register our lives, then send them to others outside to watch.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: We don’t want strangers arriving here, filming us, and never giving us the images. We produce our own images, not strangers.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: The technology of the whites is now ours to use and arm ourselves.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: When I started working, I would make a film about a dance, a party, a meeting, an event. When I got back to the village and transferred it directly to the video, everybody wanted to see it. They loved the film.

ONSCREEN TEXT:

Kiabieti and other Kayapo began to film political demonstrations to show indigenous peoples’ engagement response to government policies or inaction.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: The first film I made was about Belo Monte.

ONSCREEN TEXT:Belo Monte on the Xingu River is one of 60 dams planned in Brazil’s Amazon to increase energy production.

Despite more than two four decades of protests and battles about its sustainability and legality, Belo Monte is nearing completion.

The Kayapo and other indigenous and environmental groups oppose the dam project due to its negative environmental impacts on their the lands and traditional ways of life.

These films record what officials say and do, thus holding the government accountable.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: Now we are going to make better videos because now, when we enter the forest, accompanying officials who survey our lands, we hear about ranchers who are invading our lands, [and] we say, “Let’s go there and film.” We also register [the GPS] location.

KIABIETI METUKTIRE: The film goes to the president of the republic and to the Ministry of the Environment for them to see that something is really happening there. Because how many times has a report been sent and they’ve not responded?

Amazon Tribe: "Video Is Our Bow. It's Our Weapon."

December 7, 2015 - To outsiders, the Kayapo might appear unsophisticated, but their use of video is far from it. The Amazon tribe in Brazil has been actively fighting against policies that threaten their environment and traditional ways of life. A few have become Kayapo "video warriors." They arm themselves with cameras to document activities such as protests, confrontations with officials, and illegal logging and to promote government accountability. Kiabiete Metuktire is one of those video warriors who uses technology to protect his community.